SARA This Week: October 4 – October 10
SARA’s IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES REMAIN CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our in-person activities, including the Eyeball QSO Parties at the Library, monthly meetings at Boutwells Landing and 2nd Saturday breakfasts.
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The virtual SARA monthly meeting is Saturday October 10 beginning at 9:00 AM. The program this month is on selecting your first radio, based upon the recent experiences of Mark KEØQQN. It promises to be an interesting session. Here’s the meeting link:
Meeting number: 126 404 4494
Password: nEMmRDMC978
I’ll open the meeting room up around 8:15 AM CDT (9:15 AM EDT) for the “Morning Coffee” gathering and the meeting will start at 9:00 AM.
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The Technician License Class with virtual class sessions online via Webex wraps up this Thursday evening. The SEMARC VE Team has allocated examinee seats for our students for the Saturday Oct 17 VE Session in Cottage Grove. Next Thursday evening is being reserved for a potential review session prior to the VE session.
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Our Thursday Technical Topic sessions will resume once the online Technician License class via Webex wraps up. We’re planning to hold those technical sessions on a monthly basis. The tech topic model may be altered slightly to leverage our Saturday meeting presentation and follow that up with a deep dive session the following Thursday evening.
Thursday Technical Topic Suggestions Moderator Date
SARA Technician License Classes W0GAF et al 8-Oct
Choosing your first radio KEØQQN 10-Oct
Digital Modes & FLDIGI Primer KC0OIO TBD
Do’s & Don’ts when setting up your shack TBD TBD
MFJ-259/269 Analyzer Training TBD TBD
Setting up digital voice hotspots TBD TBD
Grounding & Bonding your station TBD TBD
Station Electrical Power considerations TBD TBD
Optional but useful shack accessories TBD TBD
Working DX TBD TBD
CW: Ways and trick to learning, setup paddles, keys, keyers TBD TBD
Many of the topics can be group discussion sessions. Others may require a little research. Dig into it a bit and share what you learn. There is no better way to learn a topic than preparing to lead a session. See something of interest or that you have some knowledge and experience, please volunteer to moderate the session. Email me at president@radioham.org if you are interested in moderating a session. You can also email me with additional topic suggestions.
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SARA’s 2020 Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event will be a comprehensive “distributed operation” is the plan for this year’s Special Event. The Special Event will run Friday Nov 6 through Sunday Nov 8. Operating times are planned for 8:00 AM CST (1400 UTC) to 5:59 PM CST(2359 UTC) on Friday and 7:00 AM CST (1300 UTC) to 5:59 PM CST(2359 UTC) on Friday Saturday and Sunday. This year’s unique operating plan expands our band/mode presence. The SARA callsign WØJH is sought after every November and we will have that call is being used by Phone stations. The special event callsign WØF will be the CW and Digital modes callsign.
We’re using SignUpGenius, an online service, to manage band/mode time slots. Sign-up opens October 12th. The link to SignUpGenius will be provided at that time. Although we recommend some experience in handling “pile-ups”, we welcome everyone to operate as the special event station. You can choose an operating band and mode slot that is likely to have a slower pace on Phone or work in digital modes such as PSK31 or FT8. All we ask is that you have a logging program capable of exporting to an ADIF so that all the logs can be combined into a central log for QSL confirmations.
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“Signals from SARA” is nearing publication for the October issue. Contributions are welcome and requested. Share the story of your experiences in amateur radio. Contributions can be sent to Pat WAØTDA (wa0tda@arrl.net) or Dave WØOXB (w0oxb@radioham.org) at any time for inclusion in an issue of “Signals from SARA.” Deadline for the October issue was October 1st, but Pat needs content for this issue so if you have something, please send it in!
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SARA’s on-air and virtual activities remain a great way to stay connected with others, boosting the overall wellness of all involved. These activities provide healthy social contact while maintaining personal distancing.
Here’s this week’s activities!
1. SARA HF Digital Net Sunday Oct 4
Time: 19:00 Central (00:00 UTC)
Frequency: 3.584.15 USB Look for the net up 500-1000 Hz +/- on your waterfall.
Mode: THOR16
Topic: What modes would you like to try this season?
2. SARA Top Band Ragchew
Nightly
Time: 20:00 Central (01:00 UTC)
Frequency: 1.966 LSB +/- QRM
Alternates:
21.316 MHz +/- QRM (USB)
50.166 MHz +/- QRM (USB)
3. SARA Monday Morning Ragchew Oct 5
Time: 08:15 Central (13:15 UTC)
Frequency: 3.856 LSB +/- QRM
4. The Lunch Room
Daily (Monday thru Friday)
Time: 12:00 Central
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
– anyone can open the Lunch Room if the usual host is not there.
5. SARA Two Meter Tuesday (TMT) Round Robin Ragchew Oct 6
Time: 7:00 – ~8:00 pm (or until we finish!)
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
The Tuesday evening on-air round robin ragchew
An HF Afterglow follows on 160 meters at 1.966 MHz LSB +/- QRM
6. SARA Two Meter Wednesday Round Robin Ragchew Oct 7
Time: 9:00 PM
SARA Repeater 147.060+ MHz (DCS/DTCS 026 Normal)
The Wednesday evening SARA Ragchew on the SARA repeater
7 SARA Virtual Technician License Class Thursday Oct 8
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
SARA WEBEX virtual meeting room
This week’s session is on Electrical & RF Safety
8. SARA Virtual Monthly Meeting Saturday Oct 10.
Time: “Morning Coffee” 8:15 AM, meeting starts at 9:00 AM (9:15 / 10:00 Eastern)
SARA WEBEX virtual meeting room:
Meeting number: 126 404 4494
Password: nEMmRDMC978
73!